>> some people, governor, have an uneasy feeling that you're not constant. >> i can't -- i mean, like -- lied about what? >> you say whatever have you to say in a particular moment. >> it burns. >> i'm not familiar precisely with what i said, but i stand by whatever i said, whatever it was. ♪ add it up add it up add it up add it up ♪ ♪ you've got to add it up ♪ >> we begin with the calendar pages flipping faster than mitt romney's policy positions. now with just 27 days until the election, and for mr. romney it's all about the buckeye state where a cnn poll shows him tightening the gap but still down four points to the president following the debate in denver. romney is barrelling through the state. he's just wrapped up a rally outside bun's restaurant with new jersey governor chris christie in tow. earlier in mt. vernon he was

busy dusting off the moderate mitt for a campaign blitz. >> we're going to fix our schools by making sure we put our kid and their parents and the teachers first. >> teachers first, right, of course. nobody will remember how you were saying, no more teachers, just a few months ago. >> he says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. didn't he not get the message in wisconsin, the american people did, it's time for us to cut back on goth. >> yes, romney's been limbering up all year for this moment, and the president, too, shaping up. fop that end he's retooled his stump speech to reflect the new-found agility of his challenger. last night in columbus, drawing attention to what the new /old will admit is suddenly sweepi i under the rug. >> mitt romney decided instead of changing his plan, he just pretended it didn't exist. what $5 trillion tax cut? i don't know anything about a $5

trillion tax cut. pay no attention to that tax cut under the carpet. >> now, that was the president waxing incredulous while former president bill clinton last night, well, he went full clintonian, painting the picture of how mitt's transformation went down. >> the deal was made by severe conservative mitt. that's how he described himself. for two whole years. until three or four days before the debate they got together and said, hey, this ship is sinking faster than the titanic so show up with a sunny face and say, i didn't say all that stuff i said the last two years. you going to believe me or your lying eyes here? come on. what are you doing? >> i think he actually caught air there. and it's no wonder with romney suddenly shifting on all marng of positions, lately it's a woman's right to choose. here he is to "the des moines

register" on tuesday. >> there's no legislation with regarding -- with regards to abortion that i'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda. >> funny. around this time last year mitt romney was outlawing abortion and certain forms of contraception, too. >> would you have supported the constitutional amendment that would have established life at conception? >> absolutely. >> if there's another 65-year-old man out there who's as agile and ambidextrous as mitt romney, we have yet to meet him. let's meet julian epstein and washington post political columnist dana milbank. dana, romney's campaign didn't go a day without walking back the abortion shift. telling the "national review,"

governor romney would of course support legislation aimed at providing greater protections from life. he doesn't know his collarbone from his coccyx, does he? >> it's sounding more and more like a head injury. maybe it's so easy for him to change his mind that he's forgotten that he took all these positions previously. it does boggle the mind to some extent. what's even more surprising is how the conservatives at this point are letting him get away with it, as bill clinton was saying, they were all realizing, this ship is going down so it's better to have this guy completely reinventing himself than the devil they know, which is barack obama. so, they're in a way willing to hold their nose, yeah, let the spokesman issue off a clarification to keep the conservatives happy. but they're going to let him go ahead and say whatever he wants

to say. >> i should remind you the father of lies is described as satan. juli julian, we've been hearing romney's heart-warming time as bishop in recent days. one story we don't hear about is romney showing up at hospital to warn a woman not to go through with a doctor-recommended abortion if she was being treated with a blood clot. why are earth are we not hearing about that story? >> you know, mitt has a -- you know, it's the whole thing about, oh, the web we weave when we first try to deceive. he's got probably three different positions on abortion now. he has a different position on indefinite detention for americans under the ndaa, as has been discussed. you know, this is part of the tin man narrative where he really has no core. and i think it's a useful narrative. but i want to warn some of my democratic friends that, you know, this is exactly what george bush said about bill clinton in 1992, that he'll say anything to get elected. while i think it's important, i

think it's also important for democrats not to get too caught up on this. they have to continue to remind voters that even on the positions that romney is consistent on, that they are very unpopular positions. he wants to, you know, raise taxes on the middle class. it's the only way he can pay for his tax plan. there's no other way to do it. >> well, he said he's not going to do that. he said he's not going to do it. >> and i think that that's a debate democrats will win. i think the medicare position he's taken has been shown poll after poll among seniors to be unbelievably unpopular and i think democrats have to get that point across. preexisting conditions under a romney administration, regardless of what he says, will be out the window if he has his way for tens of millions of americans. >> please, honestly, julian, you can't go on and deal with all of his lies. we don't have -- >> the point is -- >> we don't have time to address them all. >> the point here is, i think the problem in the debate last week is americans want a strong -- they want somebody who they perceive as being very

strong. obama, i think, was caught off guard. not because he's not a good debater. i just don't think he thought romney would be as aggressive as he was. it's like a sucker punch. you get the first shot for free but i don't think the republicans will get away with it in the biden debate or the next two presidential debates. much more meat on the table for democrats go after, apart from the fact the demographics are in the democrats' favor. this is still obama's race to lose. >> dana, we corrected or recorrected the romney narrative on abortion but we heard the story of romney meating a former navy s.e.a.l. who was killed in the violence in benghazi and the man's mother, for one, is not happy about this. she's told a boston statement, i'm quoting her, i don't trust romney, he should not make my son's death part of his political agenda. it's wrong to use these brave young men who wanted freedom for all to degreat obama.

the campaign says, i guess they can't use that story anymore. just another correction today. >> well, he'll come up with another one tomorrow, martin. these things can be changed by the day. by coincidence, there was a hearing on the hill today about the benghazi attacks. turns out all kinds of new information is coming out, particularly about the cia's role there that suggests that in the latest attacks on the obama administration, once again, romney was being a bit reckless with the facts. look, the positions are been changing. i don't know how you or julian or anybody can say the previous position was romney's actual position and the current ones are false. i don't see how we can know that at all. and i think at this rate, by election day, he'll be significantly to the left of president obama. so possibly -- you know, possibly he's the man. >> quite possibly. julian, it's clearly becoming difficult for romney to remember where he stands on certain things. today it was the national

definition authorization act. you mentioned it earlier. he said before, he'd sign it with provisions for indefinite detention. today he doesn't know what it is. here's a little back-to-back to take a look. here it is. >> would you have vetoed it because of that part of the bill that says, hey, we can detain you no matter what? >> i'll look at that particular piece of legislation. >> governor romney, as president, would you have signed the national defense act as written? >> yes, i would have. >> dana, julian, this guy -- his memory is so good, he remembers things that didn't happen. >> right. >> well, look, this is actually a relatively controversial issue about whether merndz can be detained during a period of war indefinitely -- >> a position he agreed with previously and said he would sign the legislation. >> not only that, this is a position that's been debated intensely after 9/11. it's possible not to understand this issue or to have a position on it at this point. and it goes to the point, again, this is a guy who will, you

know, say and do anything in order to get elected and really has no core. but again, i think that's a useful narrative. but i want to go back to the earlier point, which is there is so much meat on the table for the democrats right now f you go after the tax plan, the health plan, the fact that mitt is still hiding information on his taxes, i think what is missing here is not so much increasing the narrative on all of his -- this game of twister, where he can take five different positions on an issue, but the fact that he, in fact, holds very, very unpopular positions. you look at the numbers with women who in some polls the gender gap is totally closed. i think all democrats have to do is remind people what an extremist view this republican party has on issues of contraception and reproduction issues, and it's really a question of closing the deal right now for democrats. it is prosecuting the arguments that have clearly been winning up in the debate until last week. what we've seen on the debate is a blip on the radar screen but

once democrats go back to prosecuting those arguments, that volatility in the polls, that bounce can quickly disappear just as quickly as it appeared. it's a fact of forcefully and effectively making those arguments. >> dana, we started the segment with you half seriously suggesting mitt romney suffered a neurological injury. how is it possible for this man, within the space of ten months, to say that he absolutely would sign a piece of legislation, as controversial as it is, and today say -- have no recollect of it and say, i'll look at that legislation. how is that possible? >> i'm not a medical doctor, martin, fwout play one on tv. let's give him the benefit of the sdpoubt say maybe he actually forgot about that in the first case. what he seems to be doing in all other cases, which may shine on this one is, if i have a position, i'm now taking the opposite position of that. and i think it is, in a way, a

bit of a trap for the democrats to fall into, to try to point out these inconsistencies. americans get, it i think, that he is saying a bunch of different things. the question is, can he actually get away with it because the calculation's always been, there will be so much squawking in his conservative base, they won't get away with it. >> dana's exactly right, but he cannot run away from the fact that he will have to raise taxes on the middle class, he will end medicare as we know it, the voucher plan, and that preexisting conditions for women will be out the window. i mean, there are certain positions he cannot run away from. those are the arguments the democrats have to make in the next three debates. >> julian epstein and dr dr. milbank, thank you both. even on his running mate, mitt romney cannot tell the truth. stay with us. >> i don't know how paul will deal with this debate. obviously, the vice president

has done, i don't know, 15 or 20 debates during his lifetime. experienced debater. in is, i think, paul's first debate. i may be wrong. he may have done something in high school. i don't know. [ female announcer ] did you know the average person smiles more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ listerine® whitening... power to your mouth.

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paul ryan's weeks of debate prep have been turned upside down 24 hours from his debate thanks to his old friend mitt romney. romney's views about abortion would make ryan, who has sponsored 38 antiabortion laws, including one with todd akin, now we know where he stands. listen to this question he answered 24 hours ago. >> how is the debate prep?

>> it went well. >> how is your position on abortions and your running mates? >> it's unified. our positives haven't changed. >> what is your position? >> i'm sure you'll find out in these debates. >> joining us now, here in new york, jonathan alter, and in rhode island, robert traynham. thank you. i assume paul ryan will never complain will-b a softball question, but second, when do we know where he stands on abortion? when is that supposed to happen? >> they're going to get down into in on the debate about abortion. >> he can't answer a reporter's question? he sponsored 38 pieces of legislation -- >> he's on the fly. the reason it's complicated answer for him -- i'm not trying to defend him here, but the reason it's a little complicated is because he'll essentially have to say my views on abortion are not at issue, martha.

it's governor romney's views we're talking about. and i don't want to confuse views, so my sponsorship of all these bills is not relevant to the conversation. then what he's going to do is pivot and start attacking president obama on this question of obama care require, catholic affiliated institutions provide contraception. >> so basically don't answer the question, just divert? >> he'll do that. >> he'll divert? >> for sure. >> robert, here is how paul ryan's 28 2008 opponent described debating him. i'm quoting. it was like nailing jello to the wall. he would just change his story as convenient and make up facts to fit what he was -- what he wanted to say. i mean, joe biden's really got his work cut out, doesn't he, robert? >> i would make the argument joe

biden does have his work cut out, regardless of congressman ryan's previous statements or the previous opponent's statements. there are a lot of democrats out there putting a lot of hopes on vice president biden to knock this out of the park because of the president's lackluster performance a week and a half ago. the question becomes whether or not this is a substantive debate on the real issues at hand. two very smart people, in biden and ryan, and i suspect they'll have a substantive conversation about medicare, about the ryan budget plan, and probably about pro-life issues. it's an open secret that mitt romney has changed his position on abortion -- >> in the last day. >> congressman ryan is pro life life. it's not going to be about pro-life, it's going to be about the economy. >> john, let me play for you how romney assessed mr. ryan's

debating skills on tuesday. this is mitt romney. take a listen. >> i don't know how paul will deal with this debate. obviously, the vice president has done, it's don't know, 15 or 20 debates during his lifetime, experienced debater. this is, i think, paul's first debate. i may be wrong. he may have done something in high school. i don't know. >> he's just trying to lower the expectations as low as they can go, so if ryan does reasonably well, they can convey he's doing better than expected. it's not true. >> this is a seven-term congressman who does p90x every day, runs marathon -- >> he's debated his opponents many times in wisconsin. >> what's he talking about? >> romney knows that. the big question in this campaign is whether it will catch up to him, is he says whatever is convenient, whatever he can get away with saying. whether on something small like whether paul ryan debated his congressional opponents or on

something big like his tax cut. >> indeed. robert, what does paul ryan say when joe bidens, i know you want to privatize social security, you know you want to voucherize medicare and you know you want to vaporize most of the assistance government provides to people of low income. what does paul ryan say in response to those three? >> what i think he would probably say, vice president, i think you're being disingenuous because people watching the program, people at or near retirement, you're fine. the unfortunate truth is that social security is going bankrupt, even the obama administration will even concede that social security is scheduled to go bankrupt in 2030 or so. so the question becomes, what do we do to fix it for my children and grandchildren? what i propose in my budget plan, which i'm not running away from, is to allow a system that privatizes the system only for a small portion of individuals if you want that situation.

but if you don't, you can still continue with the same program. i think that's what congressman ryan needs to say. >> that's not what the bush proposal was in 2005 that paul ryan championshiped on capitol hill. it was privatization of social security. >> i remember the bill. >> if joe biden can't ram that down his throat, that people put their social security money in the stock market and lost at least some of it in -- >> something george bush rejected as an idea. i'm afraid we have to end. thank you. next, the war on children, starring the mother of five. stay with us. >> i can't -- mean, like lied about what? this is something he's been saying all along. this is what he believes. this is his policy. >> i don't have a $5 trillion tax cut. >> the current rate less 20% so the top rate would go from 35 to 28. >> i can't -- i mean, like lied about what?

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politics is not like the nursery, it's supposed to be a theater for adults where serious people have serious discussions about serious issues. but you try telling that to mitt romney. >> look, i got five boys. i'm used to people saying something that's not always true but just keep on repeating it, ultimately hoping i'll believe it. but that is not the case, all right? >> that was almost clever of mr. romney, his sly insinuation that the president was being childish. it almost makes one forget mr. romney is the one clinging desperately to falsehoods than the father of lies. at least he didn't come out and call the president of the united states a whining baby, right? no, he left that to his son, josh. >> me and my brothers were responsible for my dad doing so well. we were the ones at kids that

kept saying the same thing over and over. as a father, he learned how to debate an object sti nant child, so -- >> mr. romney is certainly fortunate to have such a large and outspoken family, but calling other people babies, saying they can't accept the truth, is that what you're taught in the romney household? i wonder what josh's mom would say. >> it's sort of like someone that, you know, in the sandbox that lost the game and they're just going to kick sand in someone's face and say, you liar. it's like -- they lost, and so now they are just going to say, okay, the game -- we didn't like the game. it's -- it's to me poor sportsmanship. >> poor sportsmanship? somebody needs to point out to mr. romney that the president's supporters aren't being bad sports when they suggest her husband is a liar. they're simply telling the truth. if she doesn't like that, well, perhaps she need to stay in her sandbox. stay with us. the day's "toplines" are coming up.

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fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. from "good morning america" to good-bye reality. here are today's "toplines," the hostess with the most es. >> i'm ready for morning tv. >> $5 trillion tax cut is inaccurate. >> tell us about these. >> they're burnt. have i a cooking emergency, but i'm here. >> i'm not going to lay out a piece of legislation here. >> pay no attention to that tax cut under the carpet. >> we get to keep all our stuff and pay less. this is like those special potato chips they made with olestra. every now and then there was a hint of anal leakage. >> charitable contributions, there will be preferences for those. >> how did you like your scoring on the cha cha? >> the best thing to help prevent violent crime in inner

city, teach people good discipline, good character. ♪ sunny day >> that was strange, stuff words in people's mouths. >> i own so many homes you know what money is? i'm guessing no because you're watching public television. from a magical place called our parents. >> this is wendy's, guys. >> take a look at this tattoo. >> he got a new that toe and it says, check out my new gramp stamp. >> i think the new chant ought to be -- >> four more wars! four more wars! >> lied about what? this is what he's been saying all along. >> black mormons are just like the rest of us. >> can you address him as pb. >> this shows a disaster. >> i had a different reaction to that first debate. here's moderate mitt.

where you been, boy? i missed you. >> the plane almost goes down. now i'm going to catch on fire? >> you can relax. we assure you no one was hurt during the production of that hard-hitting morning show segment. we're joined by jonathan capehart of "the washington post" and politico's ken vogel and goldie taylor, managing et tore of the goldie taylor project. you'll remember during that secretly recorded tape in florida mitt romney said he was going to use his wife sparingly, not put her out there too many times, didn't want to weary her nor the audience and now she's appearing on morning television. i guess that's all changed now, has it? >> well, she's the one person who can humanize mitt romney. she's the one person -- she's what they think of as their secret weapon, the person who can make people think mitt romney is not some robot but he's a loving husband, a loving father, someone who's cared for

his family all these years and who has done very well in life. you know, she wants to go and burn down the "good morning america" set, fine, great. that's what the -- that's what the campaign needs, fine. >> goldie, mrs. romney was anything but sparing of her roster of tv appearances this morning. here she is on fox. take a listen to this. >> what do you think about the charges he lied? the other side said, well, he lied his way through the whole debate. how did you feel? >> i can't -- lied about what? this is something he's been saying all along. this is what he believes. >> gold y lied about what? he lied about his tax plan. he lied about his health care plan. those are just the lies mr. romney told about himself. would you like to address some other lies he's told about other people, including the president? >> well, there are a number of things, but mitt romney if you look back over the course of his political career, and his wife has been a key witness to all of this, there isn't a single position we can nail him down to

that he's kept over the course of, say, two, three weeks, let alone three months or three years or 30 years. if you ask him whether he is pro life, you know, back when he was governor of massachusetts, well, no, he was pro choice. but today he's staunchly pro life. if you ask him whether or not he's going to cut taxes for the wealthiest of americans, he'll tell you in the last debate, no, he does not plan a tax cut but he says he plans a tax cut -- a 20% tax cut across the board. there are a number of ways -- i've witnessed once when mitt romney once said he was pro gay adoption. and the very next day he said he was staunchly against it. so, to call someone out on their mistruthings and lies, that's not poor sportsmanship. that's like saying someone who entered a race who was doping and you call them on doping, you know, is guilty of poor sportsmanship. the person who is guilty is the person who is cheating. >> yes, indeed. ken, mr. romney tells wolf blitzer that will be a

preference, in his words, for home mortgage deduction and charitable contribution, so to make up for the tax cuts, what ducks will go away? have you found them? >> this has been a great challenge of covering the campaign where there isn't -- >> this is a bigger mystery than the loch ness monster, no one can find them. >> that's one thing democrats will press him on. they've tried with a high degree -- to point out that is not -- the math is not working here, that's one of the things democrats are frustrated that president obama mostly failed to do during that debate. we talk about the charges of lying. well, president obama was the guy who was standing there who really had the ability to call out mitt romney if he thought he was either -- his math was not adding up or he was fudging his

record. i think that's what we'll see more of, perhaps in the vice presidential debate tomorrow with vice president biden trying to pin down paul ryan on the specifics of his budget and in the second presidential debate the onus falls on-o president obama because he'll have that face-to-face time, in addition to the moderator, to call out some of these things democrats are so agust at. >> to ken as point, he says there's been a great deal of. >> announcer: -- angst of the president's performance. but i read your piece and you say people should chillax. >> not chillax, but chill the beep out. mitt romney has been running for president for basically six years. he has had a rough go of it for at least the last two or three months. you mean to tell me, democrats, that you are going to lose your minds because the president over the past two months truly messes

up 90 minutes of all that time? when the dynamics of the race have been and will continue to be close. it always has been a close race, always will be a close race -- >> you're saying you weren't disappointed by the president's -- >> i'm not saying i wasn't disappointed. the president was rather listless and it was a terrible, terrible debate. the campaign knows it. the president knows it. that's not to say the whole entire race has been completely up-ended. if you look at the polls now, they are back to where they were before the debate. people need to relax. to chill the beep out. >> goldie, a washington post poll recently asked people if they have a favorable opinion of the first lady compared to the president. most said they did, as you'd expect. first ladies are usually viewed more favorably. when they asked the same question about mrs. romney, it's the opposite. more people say they have a better view of her husband.

what do you make of that discrepancy? >> that is highly unusual, number one. i will tell you, mrs. romney had a delicate balance to strike here as the wife of a national candidate where she is to validate -- you know, bring some validity to his values, offer a gentler, softer side, to showthy family in a positive light. some of the things we've seen mrs. romney say out on the campaign trail, comparing the president to a child, in a sandbox, that kind of a thing, is starting to look like "desperate housewives," to tell you the truth. it's unfortunate that they had not given her the level of media training that maybe they had given to many of their other surrogates. but it's going to get tougher as time goes along 37 we have just over 25 days left in this campaign and the spotlight will continue to be on mrs. romney. you know, and she's got to stop burning the butter. >> stop it, goldie.

>> very quickly, ken. >> this morning on "good morning america" she was very humanizing and sort of had a chance to adopt a softer tone. on fox, ironically, a very friendly format, she took a harder edge, sharper tone which does not really help the presidential campaign because it doesn't do what some of the things goldie was talking about. >> ken vogel, goldie taylor and jonathan "beep" capehart, thank you. the affirmative action case which could change the playing field for millions of americans. stay with us. >> you're to keep the employment programs and cut taxes by 20% and you're going to build more submarines and destroyers than the pentagon even wants and then finally tackle our immoral debt and deficit. i'm going to ask you a question. let me see if i got it here. as an american voter, i think this is important. are you a wizard? >> i don't believe that. that's not me. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf.

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in a story that's likely to spill over into the final weeks of the presidential campaign, a deeply divided supreme court heard arguments challenging affirmative action in a case that could dramatically affect the number of minority students able to secure places at universities across the country. a supreme court ruling in 2003 rejected the use of racial quotas but did allow schools to consider race as part of an holistic review of a student's application. regardless of the outcome, the case will almost certainly impact voters of every color. maria theresa kumar is president and ceo of vote latino and professor james peterson is

professor of african studies at lehigh university. mitt romney's record may be instructive. as governor of massachusetts he gutted affirmative action in the dead of night, during a holiday, without any consultation whatsoever. is this an example of how minorities would fare under a president romney? >> i think it's also indicative just yesterday "the wall street journal" asked mitt romney if he believed in affirmative action, he couldn't answer yes on no, he kept quiet. if he can't give a straight answer on an issue that's not a campaign issue is incredibly telling. this issue before the supreme court, it's supported by 17 senators both democratic and republican. the military is in support of it, as are a lot have business leaders. fortune 100 companies. they are support ty because they recognize demographics are changing. as americans we should make sure we have a fair shot at the

american dream, through our educational system. >> absolutely. professor, we know where mitt romney stands. as for paul ryan, he was asked directly -- i'm sorry, he wasn't, sorry, asked directly about affirmative action but let me show you what he said about those americans who live in the inner city. >> the best thing to help prevent violent crime in inner cities is to bring opportunity in inner cities, help people get out of poverty, teach people good discipline, good character. >> the republican's content breathtaking. >> wow. >> ryan suggests those lack discipline and character. this do they not realize four-fifths of the actual population now lives in an urban area? >> they probably don't realize that. judging from the limited amount of time their campaign has actually spent in urban areas, you can tell how much they value it. the problem with mr. ryan's

comments here is he is ascribing inherent characteristics to being poor or living in the inner city. that's troubling and problematic. it plays to a lot of stereotypes and racism which still exists which is why we still need affirmative action policies. not just to level the playing field, but as maria is talking about, the leaders of cap industries, leaders in defense and leaders at universities are very much invested in diversity as a way to practice innovation, as a way to practice progress and to make us not just culturally healthy society but much more innovative, intellectually society. >> peggy noonan, leading republican columnist urged romney to campaign in city, asking this question, don't they count anymore? it's hardly pricing that 70% of latinos favor the president and 94% of african-americans because these two have spent most of their time campaigning in rural settings where the only diversity i can see is in the color of the donkeys in the

farms behind them. >> oh, martin. i think that peggy, she -- peggy pegs it. if he spent more time actually talking to african-americans and latinos on policies basically seen an incloous clueses ive, you go down the line, he would have a shot of -- he doesn't need to win all african-american voters or all latino voters just a certain percentage. he has to go where they are. he can't do it in a rural stump. i think mitt romney is missing an opportunity by drawing these conclusions of voters that aren't actually accurate. latinos, for example, they're not monolithic. they're issue-driven. if he was more inclusive, he would have a shot at it. >> professor, you teach at a university. do you not confirm what all the empirical studies say a diverse community at a university is the best for all students, regardless of their race? >> i do confirm that.

every institution i have worked in or at or been a part of has been committed to it. what's happening is there's some fatigue around race relations and things like affirmative action. what people need to understand is that universities are committed to this wholistic process. it's not about quotas. it's about improving the community, educating everyone, preparing everyone for the 20 2 1st century. we have to sort of continue that battle and that fight. that's no disrespect to the young woman who's at issue here with the university of texas case. at the end of the day, our universities still don't reflect the world we live in. we still have a lot more work to do. >> professor james peterson and maria theresa kumar, thank you. stay with us. much more ahead. you have to scrub it first. no you don't. yes, you do! don't! do! whoa, kitchen counselor here. see cascade complete pacs work like micro-scrubbing brushes to help power away tough foods even in corners and edges. hmm! cascade. love it or your money back.

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today's white house briefing was a heated and contentious affair as press secretary jay

carney fielded a barrage of questions about the attack in libya that ended in the death of ambassador stevens and three other americans. they pressed mr. carney on why it's taken so long to get definitive answers. >> reporter: how is it determined to use these assessments, preliminary or not, even though they turn out to be wrong? isn't there some concern -- >> we live in a society that values transparency. this is an administration that values transparency. we had a -- we had -- >> reporter: for our benefit, even if they turned out to be wrong? >> the judgment you're making. what we are saying is when asked what happened, we gave our assessments based on the information we had at the time. >> and the silver fox joins us now live from the white house. mike, despite carney repeating his assertion the administration divulged details of this attack as they came in, why were reporters like yourself not prepared to buy it? >> reporter: well, i think most people are willing to stipulate to places like benghazi are very

dangerous areas, our foreign service and diplomat corps is always operating under dangerous circumstances, or at least in many cases, people are eager to harm american personnel, institutions and similar boymbo the world, as we unfortunately saw in benghazi. but the red flag raises which it raises under political pressure, especially in an election year. jay carney four days after the attack made statements saying because of the anti-islamic film stirred up ire across the world. as you know, it's been well documented, the explanations evolved over time. there was ambassador rice from the united nations saying it started out spontaneously, joined by other terror lmgtelem, bringing this to yesterday when the state department said there was no demonstration of the film

outside of benghazi. to be fair to jay carney, he said there's no evidence at this time to suggest it was anything other than a raeaction to the film. >> nbc's mike viqueira. thank you. ♪ [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss

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air" and paul ryan has just landed in kentucky in preparation for tomorrow night's debate. one which will feature catholic candidate versus catholic candidate. that's probably where the similarities end. while the vice president and paul ryan share the same church membership they have very different views about how their faith should be put into practice. paul ryan talks about protecting the life of the unborn but joe biden wants to enhance the lives of those already living. paul ryan said yesterday that

the answer to rising crime is more opportunity. but joe biden's wife, dr. jill biden, actually works to that end, teaching english at a community college in northern virginia, encouraging young people to develop their talents instead of falling into temptation. paul ryan wants to privatize social security, voucherize medicare and vaporize the kind of support and assistance that make life bearable for millions of americans. joe biden does not. because he believes that a faith that has so little regard for the poor and the marginalized is no faith at all. script tour teaches us nobody is perfect, neither paul ryan nor the vice president. but in mathews gospel christ warns us about being deceived. and the test is not what you say, it's what you do. watch out for false prophets, they come to you in sheep's clothing. but inwardly they are ferocious